At about 200 feet above the ground, the blimp hit a thermal -- a rising current of air -- that took the aircraft to about 500 feet above the ground. He vented the aircraft to descend and heard a pair of tears. The collapsing material came in contact with the burners and caught fire, sending the aircraft to the ground, the report said.

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

The blimp was destroyed, and the pilot was was transported to a hospital via Flight for Life after going down in a field near highways 83 and 167 in Hartford.